On the back of a sensational final over by Mitchell Starc, Australia managed to win their first match of the Caribbean tour to make the scoreline 3-1 in favour of the hosts. Ahead of the final encounter, Australia will look to take confidence into the dead rubber and the three-match ODI series which will be followed by the T20 series.
Riding on a brilliant knock from the blade of Mitchell Marsh, Australia produced a much-improved batting performance in the 4th encounter setting the hosts a challenging target of 190. Marsh has been a revelation for the Aussies in the series so far and the experiment at No 3 has worked wonders so far. He has been one of the bright spots for Australia in an otherwise disappointing tour so far.
Not only with the bat, Marsh has also starred with the ball and bagged three crucial wickets in the previous game to stifle West Indies in their bid to chase down 190. However, the hosts would feel they lost from a commanding position.
After racing off to 75 in the powerplay, West Indies looked well in pursuit of the victory target but it was the inability of Andre Fletcher to rotate the strike in the middle overs which put undue pressure on Lendl Simmons who was otherwise looking in stupendous touch.
Fletcher, who was relegated in the batting line-up due to the absence of Shimron Hetmyer, needed to show some intent while batting in the middle overs. While there is no doubt about his power-hitting abilities, Fletcher has not even been a shadow of himself in the series so far.
Despite the loss of momentum in the middle overs, West Indies managed to storm their way back into the match courtesy of exceptional power-hitting by Andre Russell and Fabian Allen in the penultimate over of Riley Meredith. Windies looked the favourites with 11 required of the last 8 but the wicket of Allen in the same over made a huge difference as Russell was forced to refuse a single in the final overs.
With the T20 World Cup slated to be played in UAE and Oman between October-November, both the teams will get more opportunities to finetune their team combinations. While West Indies is slated to play Pakistan in a five-match T20I series, Australia is also supposed to play Bangladesh in as many matches.
Match Details
West Indies vs Australia, 5th T20I
Venue: Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia
Date & Time: July 17th, at 5:00, AM IST and July 16th, at 7:30 PM Local Time
Live Streaming: Fan code
Pitch Report and Toss
Barring the final few deliveries of the previous encounter where Mitchell Starc kept firing it on the legs of Andre Russell, change of pace has been the order of the day for the pacers.
The pitch has been two paced on occasions but once set the batsmen can go hammers and tongs. It is expected to be another batting paradise tomorrow and the team winning the toss might look to chase. However, Australia who won their first game of the series after batting first might stick to this method.
Weather forecast
Temperature is expected to hover around 28 degrees and like the previous encounter, there could be a rain interruption here and there. With the monsoon season setting in, we could be in for a bit of interruption in the 5th encounter as well.
Team News
West Indies
Regular skipper Kieron Pollard hasn’t managed to play a single match in the series so far owing to an injury and won’t play any part in the final encounter either. Shimron Hetmyer and Obed McCoy who are also nursing minor injuries in all likelihood will be rested from the final encounter.
Dwayne Bravo who was rested in the previous game might make a return which might provide the much-needed experience for the home team in the bowling department. The rest of the playing XI is expected to remain the same. Oshane Thomas who got some stick in the previous game might get one more game.
Probable Playing XI
Lendl Simmons, Evin Lewis, Chris Gayle, Andre Fletcher, Nicholas Pooran (c and wk), Andre Russell, Fabian Allen, Hayden Walsh Jr, Akeal Hosein, Oshane Thomas, Sheldon Cottrell
Australia
Among the current Australian squad, Andrew Tye, Mitchell Swepson and Wes Agar are the three players who haven’t been tried in the series so far. Meredith, who received some serious treatment in the previous clash, might have to sit out in favour of either Tye or Agar. Meanwhile, Ashton Agar and Ben McDermott are nursing minor injuries and might not play in the final encounter as well.
Probable Playing XI
Aaron Finch (c), Matthew Wade, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey, Moises Henriques, Ashton Turner, Dan Christian, Mitchell Starc, Wes Agar, Adam Zampa/Mitchell Swepson, Mitchell Starc
Dream11/ Fantasy team
Wicket-keeper- Matthew Wade, Nicholas Pooran
Batsmen- Aaron Finch, Chris Gayle, Lendl Simmons
All-rounder- Mitchell Marsh, Andre Russell, Dwayne Bravo
Bowlers- Hayden Walsh Jr, Mitchell Starc, Wes Agar